Letters to the editor | 14 January 2006

Our successful railways

From Adrian Lyons
Sir: Your leading article (7 January) suggested that railway operators are a cartel bent on exploiting their customers, but this is grossly unfair. Fares have risen, but an overall increase of 3 per cent above inflation since 1995 hardly constitutes ‘steeply rising prices’. Furthermore, a tremendous range of fares and journey options is on offer. Your leader quoted one London–Manchester rail fare without giving the bigger picture. This morning I could have bought a return for travel today for less than £60.

Nor do I believe that railway operators would consider the industry to be risk-free. All the recent franchise competitions have resulted in the winners committing to pay hundreds of millions in premiums against very demanding performance targets.

A combination of factors — economic growth, increasing road congestion, better marketing — has driven patronage sharply upwards. We are now the fastest-growing railway in Europe, with 40 per cent passenger growth in 10 years.